Lot 1129
Treasury 6, no. 1171 (‘Double Double’)
HK$175,000

Famille rose enamels on colourless glaze on porcelain; with a convex lip; moulded in the form of conjoined double gourds and painted with a design of eleven iron-red bats flying around a gourd vine bearing flowers and eleven additional double gourds, all on a yellow ground; the lip painted gold; the upper part of the inside of the neck glazed; the interior unglazed
Probably imperial, Jingdezhen, 1770–1810
Height: 5.7 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.52/1.02 cm
Stopper: glass; vinyl collar

Provenance:
Robert Kleiner (1991)

Published:
Kleiner 1994, no. 146
Treasury 6, no. 1171

Exhibited:
Hong Kong Museum of Art, March–June 1994
National Museum of Singapore, November 1994–February 1995

What we see here is obviously a development of gourd designs from earlier in the reign (see Sale 2, lots 94 and 121; and Sale 7, lot 3), assuming the rare shape of two gourds joined in such a way that they seem to have grown together, blending into one. The interior of the bottle is stained cinnabar red, probably the result of holding a variety of snuff that is of this colour. Snuff came in a surprising number of colours in Qing China: white, greens, and browns – and, if the interior of this bottle is to be believed, cinnabar red. One can think of other hypotheses to explain the colour, though. Cinnabar was one of the substances associated with immortality and was often included in ancient burials; it is just possible that this bottle was filled with cinnabar to be buried with its owner so he could snort his way into the company of the immortals after death. Or the bottle may have been converted to use as a miniature flask for medicine, which can be derived from cinnabar and be of this colour.

This is not the Sotheby’s sale catalogue. This is a product of Hugh Moss for the purposes of this website. For the catalogue details please refer to Sotheby’s website or request a copy of a printed sale catalogue from Sotheby’s.